The Best Gifts to Bring to Cuba - With Examples and Insight

Posted 3 years ago - October 12th 2018

As you probably already know, Cuban’s have a reputation of being warm, welcoming and very hospitable to visitors to their island. For this reason, many new and returning visitors often wonder what items they can bring as gifts to locals.

In this post, I provide some suggestions about the best gifts to bring to Cuba. I put some context around the art of gift giving in Cuba and also share a few personal stories. Be sure to download our full list of gift ideas here:

The Best Gifts to Bring to Cuba

Cuban’s Are Proud

Cuban’s are proud and they have every right to be! They make do with much less than most of us and they can make things go a long way. We, from first world countries, could learn a lot from their way of thinking.

If you spend some time in Cuba, you will witness the culture of helping each other out, sharing things and making things last. For example, not very far from you there is likely a Lululemon store. They have great bags that are reusable and very functional. Of course there are many different stores that have similar bags.

If I am giving a few items to someone, I often put them all in the bag and include the bag as part of the package. I remember I did exactly that last year. I put Ferrero Roche, Toblerone, Excedrine and toothpaste in the bag and just gave my friend and her husband the whole thing.

A few days later I saw a local walking down the street with a Lululemon bag! That someone turned about to be my friend's mom. It was is a fun sight because it might lead you to think that there is a Lululemon in Cuba and of course there is not (at least at the time of this post!).

And that’s my point. Do not be offended if your gift is given away! In Cuba, everyone looks after one another and family and friends are at the top of the list. You may give a personal gift to someone and you may discover that they have given it to a friend or another family member. It’s part of what they like to do; they share the love and look after each other.

It was the same with chocolates. On another occasion, I brought the same friend one of those boxes of mixed candy bars we often see in our stores during halloween. She had picked out all her favorite (Kit Kat) and offered the rest to her sister and mother when they came by for a visit!

A New Lease on Life - Tools!

One trait that I truly admire about Cubans is that they know how to fix everything. It’s a common site to see someone fixing their car or bicycle taxi on the side of the road.

They are always repairing and fixing things to get more use out of what they have. Many of us live in a disposable society where if something doesn’t work we just through it away and buy a new one. Not so in Cuba. Even if they can afford to replace the non functioning item, there is no guarantee that what they need is available at the nearby store.

One day I dropped by to see my friends and found both of them busy as usual. She was cleaning the house and preparing for guests while he had all the parts of a cappuccino machine neatly laid out on the table! It looked like one of those assembly diagrams you see for putting furniture together.

He had been working for a few hours already; meticulously taking it apart. The issue? It wasn’t working up to spec and needed to be cleaned. He spent another 3 hours or so putting it back together and had no left over parts! Did it work? Of course it did!

Most of us would not spend 7 or 8 hours repairing a $99 cappuccino machine but Cuban’s don’t even think about it. In the world of reuse and recycle, we could learn a lot from our Cuban friends.

So what does this have to do with gifts? Tools! Things are always being taken apart and put back together. We have access to every tool in the universe. Outside of Cuba, for example, a small ratchet, is easily found in any hardware store. But think about how to remove a bolt without the right tools.

A crescent wrench is great but a ratchet can reach places where a crescent wrench can’t. And it will save someone hours of time (with enough persistence you can remove a bolt without tools). For the cappuccino machine example above, imagine how fast the job would have been with precision screw drivers, needle-nose pliers or small locking pliers.

Backpack, Carry Bag or Waist Pouch

A common scene in Cuba is seeing someone carefully carrying a crate of eggs down the street. It requires two hands so carrying anything else at the same time is next to impossible.

Carrying items for long distances is a daily occurrence for most locals so bags and especially backpacks are super useful in Cuba. Of course you can find inexpensive ones on the island but selection is very limited and the quality is not really there.

A bag or backpack purchased in your country would be a special treat for a local and would be put to very good use.

Locals Truly Appreciate What You Bring

I have visited orphanages a few times and always find the experience fulfilling and rewarding. Each visit is special but my first was particularly memorable. After spending a couple of hours with the children, I left feeling grateful but also happy that my gifts were genuinely appreciated.

To prepare for my visit I decided on what gifts would be best for them. I decided on a school bag which I decided to purchase in Cuba. I also thought socks would be great but decided to buy them at home (Canada) since you can buy them in bulk at Costco or Walmart.

I was told there were 14 kids and budgeted accordingly. For some reason, I had it in my head that these children were 3 to 7 years old. I wasn’t smart enough to ask beforehand. When we arrived I was surprised to find big kids probably 10 to 16 years old. The problem? I bought 14 pairs of tiny socks for 6 year olds!

Needless to say I was very embarrassed. Slowly I realized though that there was no need to be. No one laughed (ok, they did but not because the socks were too small) or tried to put them on their feet. The children thought they were perfect! The girls especially, found them to be cute. I could tell they really wanted them because they were comparing colors and even trading among themselves. Now I know that they probably gave them away to one of their friends with smaller feet.

Post - Vacation Gifts

Let’s say you just returned home from a wonderful time in Cuba where you made lots of new Cuban friends. This is especially likely if you stayed in a casa particular. Upon reflecting back, you wish you had brought something down for them but perhaps it was your first time and you didn’t know what to expect.

Now you are sitting at home and wishing you could have given them something useful. Well you can! It’s never too late.

Ding is a wonderful way to load up your friends’ phones with credit. Cell phones are widespread in Cuba but having enough balance to stay in touch with family and friends is an ongoing challenge.

All you need is their phone number and Ding will allow you to send a ‘top up’ or phone credit to your friend’s phone. Choose Cubacel as the service provider.

My recommendation is to wait for the promotions that come up at least once a month. Often you can get 2 for 1 and sometimes even 3 for 1 bonus minutes. The bonus minutes do have an earlier expiry date (usually 1 month) but it is still well worth it.

You can find Ding here: www.Ding.com

Cayo Largo Music

Along with the beautiful beaches of Cayo Largo, I was treated to live music by the house band of the resort. During meal times, at the pool or various spots around the resort, the band would play some beautiful salsa music that truly added to the ambiance of a beach get away.

As a musician myself, I have deep respect and admiration for other players. I was especially drawn to the beautiful montuno pattern that the keyboard player was playing.

As I looked closer, I could see that several of the keys were stuck in the down position. That didn’t stop her from making wonderful music but I couldn’t help thinking about the extra keyboard that we had at home which my kids had long stopped using.

During a break, I approached her and told her that I loved her playing and noticed that her keyboard was a little broken. She chucked and said, “No, it’s not a little broken, it’s a lot broken!”.

I told her that I had a spare keyboard and if she gave me her address, I would send it to her. Of course, she was surprised and very happy for my offer and graciously accepted.

The surprise on my end was that when I got home and checked the cost to ship a $150 keyboard to Cuba. It was going to be $600! Nope, it wasn’t going to happen; at least not by shipping.

In the end, I decided to just bring the keyboard over on my next trip. But I was in for a final surprised as I discovered I had to pay $200 USD in taxes to bring it in! Customs gave me the option of picking it up again on the way back home in order to avoid the tax but I committed and decided to pony up.

This gift giving exercise was a little to expensive for me but I have the satisfaction of knowing that my friend can now play montuno on a new keyboard that works!

You can learn from my mistake and simply bring music accessories such as drum sticks, tuners or guitar picks. These items are small will not attract taxes from customs.

Why Your Gifts are Special

For those of us from developed countries, we are used to being able to buy the little things that make such a difference in our everyday lives.

Things like towels, sheets, clothes hangers, underwear, socks, toiletries, pens and tools. Let’s also not forget about the small luxuries in life like candy, chocolate, books and even DVD’s.

Items like these are available to a certain degree in Cuba. Linens, for example, can be found but selection is limited and the quality is not on par with what we have access to.

When we go to our favorite department store, we are used to seeing rows and rows of different brands, colors and styles for every budget. Not so in Cuba. Quite often locals have to just purchase what is available.

One day I accompanied my friend to search for clothes hangers for his casa particular in Havana. We walked to 3 or 4 different stores before we found one that had any. They were not the style that I would buy for myself but we had no choice since after an hour and a half of walking around in the heat, that’s all we could find. So we bought their entire inventory of 15 hangers.

This is typical shopping behavior for most items in Cuba. If you don’t buy it, somebody else will. Products don’t stay on the shelves very long and nobody can tell you when or if they’ll get the product in again.

The Gift of Time

Don’t forget about the most precious gift of all: time. I have spent hours just relaxing and chatting with friends and sharing life stories.

For you, you will gain an insight into what it’s really like to live in Cuba. For them, they love to hear about what life is like in other countries. Remember that while some Cuban’s are lucky enough to travel, a majority will spend their entire lives on the island.

If you stay in a casa particular (highly recommended), your hosts are the ideal people to sit down and chat with. Hosts certainly vary in their English language skills but all are very friendly and most want to know more about their guests. It is not uncommon to sit and chat with your host until the wee hours of the morning!

What’s In It For You

So what’s the point of all this gift giving? Well, it just feels good! It’s very personal. There’s no feeling like it but to give a friend something that they really need feels really good! It’s simply one human helping out another in need.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it. Hopefully you have some ideas on the best items to bring to your friends in Cuba. For a more comprehensive list of items to bring, please be sure to download our easy to read list here:

The Best Gifts to Bring to Cuba

Feel good about helping someone just a little bit with tools, bags, sports equipment, musical items and more. There are so many useful items that Cuban’s need that are easy for us to pack in our luggage during our visit to this wonderful island filled with beautiful people!